

USAID’s Ghana Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (GWASH) Project aimed to improve rural sanitation access through the provision of household latrines to households in targeted communities. In the beginning of the project, GWASH used a “high-subsidy” approach for household latrine provision, providing households with a 60 percent subsidy per latrine. It was in this vein that GWASH aimed to meet its project target of constructing 4,680 household latrines over the course of a four-year period. During the second year of the project, the Government of Ghana (GOG) implemented a new sanitation policy that promoted a pure Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach. The strategy is a no-subsidy approach that emphasizes community-level demand creation for sanitation improvements aimed at stopping open defecation and supporting household and community efforts to independently construct improved household latrines. GWASH adapted its strategy beginning in the third year of implementation toward a low-subsidy approach that integrated key strategies from CLTS and would allow the project to work toward its sanitation target (4,680 household latrines) in the project’s timeframe. This change in approach was an attempt to come in line with the GOG’s national policy. GWASH focused its hybrid strategy to achieve sanitation and hygiene promotion in five districts: Awutu Senya and Agona East districts in Central Region, East Akim Municipality in Eastern Region, Aowin and Suaman districts in Western Region and Ho Municipality in Volta Region. To ensure effective CLTS adoption and implementation, GWASH trained Local LNGO (LNGO) partners in these project districts through a five-day CLTS training program, hired additional field staff as CLTS Agents, and presented and informed GOG representatives of its new strategy and approach.